


Subcutaneous

by BlueBoxDetective



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Between Seasons/Series, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 12:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17223695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueBoxDetective/pseuds/BlueBoxDetective
Summary: The Tardis brings the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham to apparently modern day London and vanishes. What did the ship want them to do and when will it come back to pick them up?





	1. The Tardis' independence

**Author's Note:**

> I am not native to English and do want to apologize for any mistakes I have made. Happy to hear your suggestions and opinions about the story :)
> 
> Doctor Who is a trademark of the BBC, all rights reserved. My story is only shared for the enjoyment of others and is not intended to get myself any advantages or to create the feeling that the characters are my own.
> 
> “Subcutaneous” describes the tissue layer between the skin and the muscle. For the most part it consists of connective and fatty tissue.

There was a whooshing noise that took Yaz's concentration away from her book. She was reading in her textbook, preparing for the next test at the police. She had all the time in the universe to do so, but she decided she had to start some day. Today had been that day, Graham wanted to work in the kitchen, trying to reorganize it after the Doctor had tried to make cake, while Ryan was fine with having a day to himself and his music. So all of them agreed on taking a day of, parked in the time vortex. And that was exactly the reason why Yaz was irritated by the sound of the Tardis taking off.  
She pulled up one eyebrow as she put down her textbook, suspecting the Doctor had become bored, even though she had told them she had “lots to do”. Walking down the corridor to the console room she asked herself if the Doctor thought they wouldn't notice the Tardis materializing somewhere else. But when she reached the orange glowing room, it was empty. No excited Doctor running around, switching levers and pushing buttons, talking to the console in the sweetest voices. “Doctor?” she called into the empty space, part of her expecting to see her popping out of any tiny gap in the room, but she was alone. Suddenly she heard fast approaching footsteps from another corridor, and only seconds later the Doctor appeared in the doorway – her hair sticking up from her head like she had been electrocuted, sleeves rolled up to her elbows and missing one shoe. “What have you done?!” the time lady asked in confusion, rushing over to the console and checking on different screens.  
“Nothing!” Yaz exclaimed, following the Doctor who was trying to make sense of the symbols blinking on the screen. “I came here because I heard the Tardis taking off, I only just got here!”  
The Doctor didn't answer, muttering to the console and interacting with different parts of machinery. Graham and Ryan emerged from the corridor, appearing equally confused as Yaz and the Doctor. “What's going on?” Ryan asked, looking like he had fallen out of bed two minutes ago. “Don't know,” the Doctor responded, still not looking up, “Seems like she took off on her own. What did you do, old girl? And where are we? The scanners aren't working correctly, I can't tell what's going on.” She hurried over to the doors, but Graham called out: “Oh no Doc, don't have a look. We all know how that's going to work out, it will be interesting and in five minutes we will be stuck on an alien planet again! I have just reorganised the spices, we agreed on travelling again tomorrow!”  
“Sorry Graham,” the Doctor told him, even though everyone in the room knew she wasn't really sorry, “If the Tardis brings me somewhere, I can't just ignore it. Who knows what's out there! Could be an adventure waiting for us, somebody needing out help. There is no way I'm staying here.” She turned around, one hand already on the doorknob. There was a big smile on her face, her eyes glowing with excitement. “But feel free to stay here, if you want to!”

Five minutes later, just as Graham had expected, they were stepping through the doors of the old police box. Yaz had the Doctor put on her second shoe and Graham insisted on getting himself a sandwich before they left, but now the Doctor nearly exploded with curiosity. She was babbling about how much she loved the Tardis for bringing her to places when she opened the doors. They stepped outside, their feet landing in a big, wet puddle on a street. The surroundings looked like nature on earth: green lawn, some trees, a lake in the distance. “Great!” Graham's voice was full of sarcasm, “Of course it has to rain. It couldn't be a sunny day out, could it?” But the Doctors face lit up with excitement: “I can get my wellies! Haven't worn them in a long time! Have I told you I might have part invented them?” Yaz smiled and rolled her eyes about the Doctors joy in wearing plastic shoes. But the second the Doctor turned around to get back into the Tardis, the doors closed on their own and the familiar whooshing noise was audible as the police box dematerialized.  
“Rude!” the Doctor exclaimed, while the other three stood in shock, their hair slowly getting wet through the rain.  
“What just happened?” asked Ryan, blinking as if the Tardis would return after he had looked away for long enough.  
“Don't know!” The Doctor walked to the space where the Tardis was parked seconds ago and pointed her sonic screwdriver at the floor, “And I don't like not knowing! Maybe she's angry with me for working on her time calculator, but that was five days ago. Thought I had apologized to her. But maybe I forgot.” Annoyed she put her sonic back into her pocket, obviously not getting the information she wanted out of it. Graham showed his “I told you so face” as he scolded the Doctor: “Well maybe you should stop making your concious ship angry! Now we're stuck in the rain and my feet are getting wet!” “You try living with someone for a thousand years and not getting into fights!” the Doctor countered, “Let's get a roof above our heads, shall we?”  
Yaz, Ryan and Graham followed the Doctor, who started walking in an apparently random direction, only now having a look around them. As they stepped of the grass and onto a small path it became obvious that they must have ended up in some kind of park. Apart from the doves and ducks the park was pretty empty, probably due to the rain. Graham had pulled his jacked above his head as best as he could, his eyebrows pulled together and the corners of his mouth pointing downwards. “This looks familiar,” Ryan declared, “But I can't put my finger on it right now.” They followed the pathway past some flowerbeds and fences until buildings became visible in the distance.  
“You've got to be kidding me!” blurted Graham, “That's Big Ben over there! And Westminster Abbey! Are you telling me we landed in London on a rainy day? How boring is that!”  
“I know where we are!” Ryan added, “This is St James's Park! We've been here on holiday two years ago, remember, Graham?”  
“Of course I do. It rained half of the time, how could I forget?” he answered, his mood getting worse by the second.  
“Great!” the Doctor cheered, “So you know where we can get shelter until the rain stops! Come on Yaz, we will follow them.” Mumbling things the others couldn't hear properly, Graham led the way out of the park and down a big street. There were more people around now, busily walking up and down the road with umbrellas, hurrying to get out of the rain. The four travellers found temporary shelter in the Westminster underground station where the Doctor shook her hair and send raindrops flying in every direction. Yaz limited herself to wringing her hair out, a small stream of water running to the ground. Ryan, who hadn't brought a proper jacket, rubbed his arms to get warm.  
“Right!” the time lady began as she found herself dry enough to continue, “Let's find out some more about where and especially when we are, shall we?” Without waiting for and answer, she took long strides over to a small kiosk. “I love a little shop!” Yaz thought she heard her mutter to herself, but she wasn't certain. She watched the Doctor as she pulled out one magazine and newspaper after another, while her face showed growing confusion. “I don't get it,” she murmured, “No dates? Why don't they have dates? Every newspaper has to have a date, doesn't it? Or do I get this mixed up with another planet?” Three different papers in her hand she turned around to her companions: “Why aren't there any dates on these?” Ryan shrugged his shoulders and picked up a couple of them himself while Graham walked over. “Well they are your typical newspaper apart from the missing dates. The Guardian, Daily Post...” he started reading one of the articles as the shop assistant called over: “Hey! You can buy it if you want to read it!” Mumbling an apology they left the small shop and climbed up the stairs back to the surface, where it had stopped raining.  
Even though the Doctor started walking, Yaz was wondering if she knew where to go. Ryan eventually worked up the courage to ask the question they were avoiding: “So, Doc... Will the Tardis be back?” “I do hope so!” was the response, but the Doctor didn't stop or turn around to let the others see the expression on her face, “Until then, we will make the best out of the situation. Since the sun isn't that bright anymore, I think it would be a good idea to find a place to sleep for the night, don't you think?” The other three looked at each other, silently conforming that they were all concerned. The Doctor didn't normally plan for “human” things like resting or eating, so that she did so right now was probably not the best sign. Graham began to speak when the silence grew to loud: “Do you have an idea where you want to stay for the night?”  
“Well, not exactly. I do hope that if we go further out of the city centre that we will stumble upon a place that hasn't the best security. Or an open window, which ever comes first! Unless one of you has money on yourself, of course.” For a while, they continued walking away from Big Ben and Westminster Parliament. The Doctor tried to cover up the strange situation they were in by telling them stories of past adventures, but like most of the times the three of them weren't sure if they really happened or if she was making them up. But they had to admit that they had found themselves in weird situations with the Doctor before, so who knew.


	2. A visit to a hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ended up somewhere that doesn't quite match modern day London, the Doctor and her companions have to figure out what they have to do to get the Tardis to come back.

The longer they walked, the fewer people they saw. It became dusk and the street lanterns turned on, illuminating the small roads they were following. After a while, they were the only people left outside. “Weird,” Ryan stated, “Shouldn't the nightlife in London start right now? Like People going out, partying, having drinks? Where is everybody?” Since nobody had an explanation, silence settled between them. They crossed another empty street, not even cars were in sight. But just as the Doctor was about to step over the central reservation in the road, she hit something with a muffled noise and fell backwards. Not being able to stop her fall she landed roughly on her back, hitting her head on the asphalt. “Ow...” came her late reaction to what had happened, Yaz already by her side: “Are you okay? What happened?” Graham held out his hand to help the time lady up, and with one hand at the back of her head the Doctor got to her feet. “I don't know, I think I walked into a wall.” she answered, her face twisted in pain. She put one hand in front of her and took a few careful steps forward until her hand met a flat surface. “What is it?” Ryan asked, also feeling for the invisible wall that the Doctor had found. “I don't know,” the Doctor had to admit, inspecting if there would be a hole where they could get through, “Maybe a border? Perhaps the hull of a ship, have seen that before. But it had warning signs to keep people from walking into the wall, could have used that a second ago.” After a couple of steps along the middle line in the street she came to a stop and searched in her pockets for her screwdriver. She pointed it at the wall and stared at the small display. “What does it say?” insisted Yaz, small wrinkles on her forehead showing her concern. “Apparently,” the Doctor began and took a step back, looking up to the sky, “this is it. This is the end of this place. There is nothing behind this wall. No buildings, no life signs. And...” she turned towards her companions, giving them an apologizing look “it seems like there is no way out. No door, I mean. I think people are not supposed to get outside this place.” Graham, Ryan and Yaz just looked back at her, not knowing what to say to that. But before one of them had the chance to think about it, the Doctor looked around in confusion: “Do you hear that?”  
“What?” Ryan asked, checking behind himself.  
“The bleeping? I don't know where it is coming from. Ow!” she called out, pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead, pinching her eyes closed and bending over, “This hurts!”  
“I hear it, too,” Yaz confirmed, “And it is getting louder.” Ryan put his hands over his ears, trying to shut the high pitched noise out, but it didn't work. Graham sank to the ground, moaning in pain, even though the others couldn't hear him over the bleeping in their ears. They all fought against the increasing noise that gave them more and more pain. The Doctor was the first one to pass out, falling to the ground and hitting her head again. Yaz knelt down next to her, scared for the time lady, only to faint seconds after her. Graham fell shortly after and Ryan couldn't hold up much longer either.

Yaz awoke in some kind of hospital room. A young woman, dressed in white like a nurse was standing next to the bed she was laying on.  
“There we go,” the woman said in a soft voice, “Welcome back. How do you feel?” Yaz moaned in response, one hand pressed against her head. “Where am I?” she muttered.  
“You're in the hospital. But don't worry, you'll be fine.” the nurse answered, a warm smile on her face.  
“What happened?” Yaz looked around the room, but she was alone. She couldn't figure out what it was, but something seemed off about the presumed hospital room.  
“You were out after curfew,” the woman explained like she should have known, “I don't quite understand why you didn't came prepared, but we took care of it, so don't worry. We -”  
Yaz interrupted her: “Where are my friends?”  
“Oh, they are just next door. They are fine as well, you were the last to wake up. As soon as you four show us your ID and visitor allowance, you are free to go.” the nurse told Yaz happily.  
Yaz tried to hide her concern: “Can I check on my friends first, please? I want to make sure they are okay?”  
“Sure, no worries.” the nurse answered and disconnected an iv that Yaz hadn't noticed before. 

She was brought into the next room, where the Doctor and Graham sat on Ryan's bed. “Yaz! Good to see you!” the Doctor exclaimed and moved to the side, so Yaz could have a seat next to her. They all seemed to be doing okay like her, and the Doctor was bubbling with energy as always. “Did they tell you that they want to see our visitor allowance?” Yaz asked the others, who nodded. “Seems like people aren't supposed to just walk around this place, don't you think, Doc?” queried Graham. “Looks like it,” the time lady confirmed, jumping from the bed and rummaging through Ryan's room, “But what is it about this place? Why is there a big part of a city without an entrance and an exit? Where you have to bring an allowance to visit? And why hasn't this place got any dates on anything? Is anyone else weirded out by these hospital rooms? I haven't figured it out yet, but something is off with them, or is it just me?”  
“It's not just you,” Yaz reassured the Doctor, having another look around.  
“I know what it is,” Graham stated, “Everything is hidden away. In Grace's hospital you could see what the doctors were working with. But look at the iv we were hooked on.” He pointed to the stand next to Ryan's Bed, “You can't see the bag. The weird, black box is around it.”  
“You're right. And look at the pipe, it isn't see-through.” Ryan added. The Doctor came over to them, having a look at the mysterious box. As she got out her sonic screwdriver, her eyes narrowed with concern: “I'm getting the strong feeling whoever designed this place doesn't like people snooping around.”  
Graham's voice was heavy with sarcasm: “Good thing we never get involved in other peoples business, right, Doctor?”  
“I think we should get out of here before they ask us for our visitor allowance again,” Ryan stated, throwing the Doctor a questioning look. “Great idea. Let's go!” the time lady responded, and the four of them left the room. Just as they were about to walk around the corner of the corridor, a familiar female voice called after them: “Hey! Where do you think you're going! We still need to see your ID and visitor allowance!”  
“Not good.” the Doctor observed as she saw the nurse coming after them. “I think this would be the perfect moment to start running.” And without being told twice, they started hurrying out of the hospital.


	3. Awarding Points

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ended up somewhere that doesn't quite match modern day London, the Doctor and her companions have to figure out what they have to do to get the Tardis to come back.

They only came to a halt once they had a good amount of streets and buildings between them and the supposed hospital. They where gasping and resting their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath. “I miss the Tardis,” Ryan huffed, “Can't you just call her, or something? It is a phone box after all.”  
“Doesn't work like that,” the Doctor answered, “She brought us here for a reason. And I guess she will pick us up once we did whatever she wants us to do.”  
Yaz heaved: “What could she want from you?”  
“Us,” the time lady corrected, “And I have no idea. There is definitely something weird going on, but up until now we were the only people that were chased after as far as I know. So... We will just look around and try to work out what it could be. Is anyone else excited? I love a good mystery.” Brimming with happiness the Doctor started walking down the road, watching the people around them. To Yaz it looked like a pretty normal day in a big city. People with shopping bags, people with briefcases, people with a coffee just enjoying their day. The sun was up, so they had probably spent the night and some of the morning in the hospital. They turned into a smaller street and strolled away from the main roads, inspecting their surroundings like they hadn't seen a city before. Looking up to the windows of a house, Yaz suddenly bumped into someone walking in front of her. The lady was thrown off balance and let go of her shopping back, which led to her purchases being spread out onto the pavement.  
“Oh no! I'm so sorry, I didn't watch my step!” Yaz apologized quickly, collecting the spilled items from the ground. The lady just smiled and accepted the items back in her bag: “It's fine, thank you. Five points awarded.”  
“What?” Was the only thing Yaz could answer in confusion, but the lady didn't care to explain. She continued down the road as if nothing had happened.  
Ryan looked equally confused: “What did the lady just say?”  
“Five points awarded,” Yaz repeated, while the Doctors face became pale with realisation: “Oh no! I forgot your points! I'm so sorry guys – wait, no. Not important right now,” she scolded herself, “Why did you get points, Yaz?”  
The brunette shrugged her shoulders: “No idea. I just picked her stuff up after I ran into her.”  
Mumbling to herself the Doctor scratched her head: “Why did she give you points? Points for what? Maybe she was just making a joke? No, wouldn't be a funny joke. Keeping score? Score for what?”  
Graham, Ryan and Yaz just listened to her. While she was going on about the points, Graham pulled his sandwich from his pockets. “Good idea,” Ryan commented, “Doc, can we grab a bite to eat? Haven't eaten since yesterday. You can think about what is going one there.” The Doctor looked up, taking a second to process what Ryan had asked for: “Sure thing. Let's get you something to eat, good idea.” Yaz suddenly realized her stomach was rumbling, and so they walked to the nearest restaurant. It was a small place serving Chinese food, and since all of them were hungry, there was no discussion over what to eat.  
As they walked through the doors a bell rung. A tall grown men came through the kitchen door, smiling a bright smile at them: “Welcome! Do you wish to dine with us?” he greeted them in a surprisingly high voice.”  
“Yes, please!” Graham replied, “The four of us.”  
“Sure thing!” came the happy answer, “Just let me have a look at your visitor allowance and we will get you whatever you want!”  
As the four of them exchanged short, concerned looks, the expression on the man's face changed to mistrust. “Wait... are you the people that don't have them..?”  
“No, no!” Ryan was quick to answer, “We... um, of course we got them... Just... Um... Must...”  
“Must have forgotten them in our rooms,” the Doctor finished Ryan's stuttering, “We will get them and then come back, just a moment.” She gave him her biggest smile, but it was obvious that the didn't believe them. As they turned around to leave, he was already on his mobile phone.

They ran down the street when they heard the sirens. “Wow, they really don't like people being here!” the Doctor called back to the others, who were following her. They turned into smaller alleyways, trying to change directions often and avoiding people. But the sirens seemed to be everywhere. In the end, the Doctor settled for just running as fast as they could into one direction.  
“Doctor!” Graham shouted, out of breath, “I don't... mean to alarm you... But there are things... following us!”  
Concerned the Doctor, Ryan and Yaz looked back, and saw human-like metal robots behind them. The creatures were hovering and closing in fast, their shining metal faces inexpressive.  
“Robots!” the Doctor exclaimed, suddenly changing direction and running back onto bigger streets, “That's good news!”  
“How...” Graham huffed, before he shook his head and decided to not question the Doctor in this exact moment.  
As they turned another corner, they abruptly had to stop in front of the fence between them and the Thames. Without hesitation the Doctor climbed over and gestured them to follow her: “Come on, hurry!”  
“Do you want us to jump?!” Yaz stuttered, looking down to the river.  
“Course!” was the answer, “No time to argue now!”  
Ryan's hands were shaking and he was muttering to himself as he climbed the fence, following Graham's example. “Off you go!” the Doctor called over to him, looking back at the following robots. While Graham glanced down to the River, Yaz closed her eyes and jumped.


	4. Under your skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ended up somewhere that doesn't quite match modern day London, the Doctor and her companions have to figure out what they have to do to get the Tardis to come back.

The fall was short. She opened her eyes wide, watching the world pass by. Cold water enclosed her as she dove deeper, being pushed down by the energy from the high jump. She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her right leg, out of shock she opened her mouth to scream, but the only thing escaping her were bubbles of air. She came to a halt, turning her head to see what was hurting her.  
She realized she hadn't jumped far enough. There was a metal rod sticking out of the wall restricting the river, a few more she could see in the dirty water. And her calf was impaled by it, causing burning pain. Trying not to panic she noticed how she was running out of air, so she quickly considered her options. Grabbing onto another rod she pulled herself up and of the rod in her leg, only for blood to flow out rapidly. With her arms and left leg she swam up to the surface, her right leg being pulled with her. As she broke through the surface, she gasped for air, letting herself float on the back.  
“Yaz!” she heard the Doctor calling, but she didn't find the strength to answer. She felt herself being carried along by the river, until someone pulled at her hand. Slowly she was dragged to the side, the Doctor talking to her the whole time. “Come on, Yaz, we can do it. Right there, the other two are waiting for us. Only a little bit left to go...”  
More hands grabbed her and pulled her out of the water, onto stony ground. Yaz looked around her, they had landed on a sandbar enclosed by the tall walls.  
“You're bleeding!” Graham called out, kneeling down next to her injured leg. “Roll over, please,” he instructed Yaz, who rolled onto her belly with a moan.  
Ryan cringed at the sight of Yaz's leg and turned away, while the Doctor fell to the ground next to Graham.  
“Pressure, Graham,” she urged him, pulling apart the leftovers of Yaz's trousers. Graham wasted no time and pushed against the wound, making Yaz cry out in pain. “Sorry, I'm sorry,” he told her, guilt twisting his face.  
The Doctor ripped off some stripes of the trousers and started bandaging Yaz's leg as best as she could. “Has to work for now.” she commented, insecurity speaking through her voice, “We have to get out of the Thames. I know that there are sandbars that have stairs, we just have to find one.”  
“Doc, we can't put her back into the water.” Graham told her, gesturing to the bleeding leg.  
“I don't think we have a choice. Listen to the sirens still going, it is only a matter of time until they find us.”  
“Hey!” They heard a call from above. “You alright?”  
There was a bold head peeking over the wall. It was a male face with an expression of concern.  
“Not really,” the Doctor replied. “Bit trapped and followed right now.”  
“Are you the people they are looking for?” the man shouted down to them.  
“No!” screamed Ryan and Graham, while the Doctor answered with and enthusiastic “Yes!”  
The man looked at them for a second, seemingly thinking. “Give me a moment. I'll get you out of there,” he then called and vanished.  
“Thank you!” the Doctor screamed after him.  
“Hey might call the robots,” Ryan commented.  
“Oi!” the Doctor scolded, “Don't be so pessimistic! I liked him! He seems nice.”  
After a couple of minutes, in which Yaz sat up and started talking again, the man was back, like he promised. He worked on binding something to the fence until he eventually threw them a rope ladder: “There you go! Come up here and I'll help you get away!”  
“Oh thank you!” the Doctor called enthusiastic. “Yaz, will you be able to get up there?”  
The woman nodded, her face still pale from the pain. But all of them where able to get up and out of the river. Soon enough they stood face to face with their rescuer. A man in his early thirties, wearing plain clothes. The oddest thing was his head. It was bold, like they had already seen. But it was full of cables coming out of his skin. They all tried not to stare, but their concern was written on their faces.  
“Follow me. I will get you to safety,” he told them and led the way. They walked through a lot of small streets and alleys, avoiding populated roads. The man seemed to know how to get around, bringing them through hidden pathways. “So... Do you have a name?” the Doctor questioned once they hadn't seen anyone in a while.  
“Lucas. I'm called Lucas. And who are you?”  
“Yaz, Ryan, Graham and I'm the Doctor”, she pointed while speaking.  
“Nice to meet you.” he answered and opened a door. “In here. This is my home, so you should be fine there.”  
“Thanks, Lucas,” the Doctor cheered and walked over the doorstep. They found themselves in a small flat on the ground floor. It was sparsely furnished, and apart from a couple of family pictures the walls were blank.  
“I don't have much seats,” their host apologized, “But you can sit down on the sofa. Yaz, you get the chair, I will go and fetch some medical supplies.”  
Grateful Yaz collapsed on the only chair at the table, glad to take the pressure of her leg. Her eyebrows pulled together the Doctor walked over to her and keeled next to her leg so that she could take it onto her lap. “Sorry Yaz,” she muttered, “This will hurt again. But I'll be quick, promised.” Yaz nodded, her eyes fixated on the bloody strips of trousers around her calf. Lucas returned with the promised supplies and the Doctor began treating the wound, this time cleaning it and taking a look at the damage the rod had done. When she washed away the blood and was able to see, the others could observe her forehead wrinkling in confusion. She raised her upper lip a bit and leaned forward, carefully cleaning away the dry blood from the wound.  
She hesitated: “I don't mean to get too personal, Yaz, but... is it normal that you have wires running under your skin?”  
“What?” replied Yaz, turning her head to see what the time lady was talking about.  
“Wires?” Graham asked, stepping closer.  
“Yeah, wires, cables,” the Doctor repeated, “colourful cables, in blue and yellow. Is this normal?” The woman looked up to Yaz, whose eyes were wide open: “No! I don't normally have wires in my body!” There was a clear hint of panic in her voice.  
Lucas, who had followed their conversation from the kitchen up until now, emerged in the doorway: “What do you mean, this isn't normal for you? Everyone who comes here gets wired.”  
“Why?” asked Ryan at the exact moment the Doctor said “How?”  
“Who are you guys?” Lucas wanted to know, “And how did you get here? You shouldn't be here, I didn't expect visitors?”  
“Maybe we where visiting somebody else.” the Doctor responded, but it sounded more like a question than an answer. And Lucas only looked more confused.  
“You have no idea where you are, do you?” he stated, putting down his kitchen utensils and sitting down next to them.  
“No,” the Doctor had to admit, “We don't. Can you tell us?”  
Eyebrows raised Lucas thought for a moment. Then his face relaxed a bit: “I will tell you if you explain how you got here.”  
Slowly the Doctor nodded. “It's not that big of a story. My ship landed us here and took of without us. Has a mind of its own sometimes, not that I mind. But that's how we got stuck here yesterday. We spent the night in the hospital and escaped when they asked us for ID. That's about it.”  
“Oh,” Lucas looked puzzled, “That's odd. Ships can't land around here normally. People aren't supposed to get in or out.”  
“Yeah, kind of got that vibe.” Graham noted. “Why?”  
Lucas seemed uncertain. “If I tell you... you have to promise to listen to the whole story. And to not freak out,” he then insisted.   
“Okay,” the Doctor answered, a shimmer of curiosity beaming across her eyes. The man looked at the other three, so they nodded agreement to his terms.  
He sighed and began his story: “We are on P247. I lived on earth, but I'm guessing you're not coming from there. A few years ago, 3212, they finished their work on the new imprisonment system. They had build 250 prison cells – in space. They were supposed to look like old big cities, with people and a normal daily life. They wanted to improve resocialisation. Getting criminals to become better humans before bringing them back to earth. A point system was elaborated. For different tasks in the cell you would be given points to pay for your crime and show that you had improved. It was considered a humane form of life long imprisonment – because you would have everything you need and couldn't hurt anybody. They would monitor you through your wires, making sure your body was doing okay, and keeping up with your score to see how you are improving. They even wanted to allow visitors to come and help you collect your points. Some rules were given to the places, though. Like you couldn't bring many things with you, you had to earn money and buy what you needed. Or the curfew that is enforced through the white noise. I thought it was a great idea. They wanted to start a test phase with the 250 cells they had build. But then there was an attack in the London underground. Many people died, and the whole world was outraged. They wanted to see the person responsible dead. But there is no death penalty, so life long imprisonment it was.  
I don't know how or why, but one morning the police was standing on my front porch. They were banging on my door and screaming for me. My wife got scared and I opened the door. And that was it. They took me away, right then and there. There was no trial. Next thing I knew, I was send here. Since then, I live here. In the beginning my wife send me some letters, but over time she must have become convinced that it had been me, because she stopped writing. I have no idea how long it has been, because they don't keep counting the days, weeks, months or years in here. It doesn't matter, because you are supposed to focus on the points. But my sentence was two million points – you would need at least three lifetimes for that. Every day I pray for someone to come and help me, get me out of this hell. And then today, I heard the sirens. Since I'm supposed to be the only one they get turned on for, something had to have happened. And so I found you. But you have to believe me, I didn't do it! I wasn't even around that day, I couldn't have done it! I just want to get away from here, and start over. I will die here if I don't get rescued...”  
He went silent, staring at the floor. The others had listened carefully to his story, the Doctor even had stopped stitching Yaz's leg back together.  
“Mate, I believe you.” Ryan assured the sad looking man.  
“Me, too!” Graham was quick to add, and the Doctor and Yaz nodded.  
“You know what?” the Doctor smiled at Lucas, “Once I get my ship back, we'll take you back to earth. To a place you want, and you can start a new life. How does that sound?”  
His face lit up, the wrinkles clearing and his eyes widening: “Are you serious?”  
“Sure!” the Doctor exclaimed, finishing the last stitches. “And I'm sure my ship will come and get us soon!”  
Almost as if on cue, the familiar whooshing noise was audible and the Doctors face beamed with happiness. They stepped out the door and stared at the Tardis, which was parked on the pavement just outside the flat.  
“You incredible, brilliant box. Bringing me where I need to be to sort out fair play throughout the universe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue:  
> They brought Lucas back to earth, to the year 3250 as he wished. He chose a small cottage somewhere in Scotland, which the others could only approve of.  
> Yaz's leg healed just fine once she was in the medical bay of the Tardis. The ship worked to hard on her recovery, there wasn't even a scar left.  
> The Tardis also took care of their wiring – turned out their “iv” was actually a cable that connected to the ones under their skin. With small incisions all the cables were pulled back out of their bodies – just like in old days, where people could survive without wires in their bodies!


End file.
